U.S. Postal Service Shipping Equity Act (USPS)

I’ve been doing just fine shipping “olive oil” through them all these years

 

Wait, you can't mail beer?

@FBarber

 

It’s funny I always used ups and FedEx then did usps flat rate and haven’t looked back. They actually, at least for me locally, ask the least intrusive questions. “Anything liquid, flammable or …?” Nope. Ups and FedEx around here ask what I’m shipping.

I feel less bad lying just to saying “no” usps has got my business ever since

 

Yea fuck that

Flat rate box does fine when i ship my olive oil and homemade chili

This will come with a stupid ass tax and for sure a higher fee

No thanks

 

At my local USPS i ALWAYS ANSWER YES and say its whatever comes to mind just because they'll stamp FRAGILE all over the box

 

My packages read: Fragile: Carolina BBQ sauce.

 

No thanks. Besides ... the criminal aspect of trading is half the fun.

 

& the "antique scale parts" to weigh it .
+ the complimentary snow globes . Can't forget them.
*Best Oprah voice* : EVERYbody gets a snow globe !!! Yay!

 

My how things have changed. Back in the day when I was a frequent trader no one even considered USPS. I spent a metric ton of cash shipping UPS, especially after I scrapped FedEx due to some overly ambitious and shady employees who were just grilling me over what was in the package and ultimately leading to my first and only “shipping exemption” (I’m fairly certain the dude knew it was beer and exempted it and kept the beer, anyone who ever traded with me knows how obsessive I was about packing so I’m certain nothing broke). anyways, it was UPS from there on out, which was by far the most expensive.

I don’t really trade anymore but I do fairly frequently have people ship me beer I can’t get locally and it seems that everyone uses USPS now. Have only had one arrival shipping exemption, and they shipped it back to the guy due to a leaky package (whereas FedEx kept mine because it was a “violation of their shipping policies”).

USPS consistently gets a bad rap (not sure why, I mean I can send something literally across the county for like 50 cents, you can’t even get a goddamn candy bar for 50 cents anymore), but these big corporate shipping companies aren’t the greatest thing since sliced bread either!

 

Like UPS pays any attention to the word fragile. Boxes I get, whatever is inside them, are always worse for wear vs FedEx.

 

And, if you have a self-serve kiosk close by, you only have to lie to the computer. And even then, it's not really lying, because it does not ask about alcohol, just hazardous materials.

In the most recent NBS BIF, we had several bottles get broken during shipping; any that were USPS still got delivered, any Fedex/UPS got thrown out, returned to shipper with an unpleasant note, or folks accounts getting flagged. Fuck those guys. Plus, a couple BIFs ago, I shipped 1 box, Fedex, from Bellingham WA to Delaware. $15 bucks, and it took well over a week. I realized I could have shipped 6 USPS flat rates, containg more beer, for equal or less money, and they get there in 2-4 days each usually.

I also never get cute with telling the counter workers what's in there. They might want to know what your sauce recipe is, or why you're shipping yeast samples. The fewer alarms you set off the better. UPS/Fedex have always been rougher on the glass and ceramic art my girlfriend makes. It also explains why the box is so heavy.

I fully support the proposed legislation.

 

Here it's the opposite. FedEx is brutal and UPS has excellent history.

 

$125, not $15. I am an idiot with fat fingers.

 

I can't even trust the post office to deliver my mail correctly, why the hell would I trust them with something valuable? I paid $25 to ship a bill 2 day air once and it go there a week later "We don't guarantee 2 day shipping on our 2 day air." Then WTF do you call it 2 day air and not whenever the hell it gets there it gets there. What a scam. UPS is virtually flawless. I can use my companies negotiated rates for shipping and they are 1/5 of what the UPS store charges. UPS rates are the biggest over inflated scam in the world if not negotiated.

 

Well alcohol could be hazardous

And on your 125$ box story I had the same epiphany. I sent you one large flat rate and it got there in under 48 hours. I sent @snaotheus a box the same day but couldn’t fit it so I went big box and went to FedEx. That night I realized I could’ve shipped two flate rates for cheaper than what FedEx charged. Oh and the kicker was the FedEx one took 10 days to arrive, never again.

 

FedEx is aging some beer for me right now, if my fellow BIFfers are not teasin' on me

 

I sent a package to New York after dude sent his and mine got there 2 days quicker with USPS, i believe he used Ups.
Everytime I have used USPS to Illinois, Connecticut and Michigan it's there in less than 48 hours.

 

I'm not sure that USPS knows what they can or can't accept. I tried mailing some 'Michigan maple syrup' to my brother once and was told that nothing liquid could be sent by USPS. Poorly trained employees? I took it to the UPS store, and they accepted my 'Michigan maple syrup' without further questioning, and put fragile stickers all over the box.